


What Lies Within

by baeconandeggs, Ryunick



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Firefighters, Fluff, M/M, No Underage Sex, Sex, Smut, Younger Chanyeol, older baekhyun, powers!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 18:49:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14900009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryunick/pseuds/Ryunick
Summary: Chanyeol is deep in love with the firefighter who saved his life and took him under his wing, but what Baekhyun doesn't know is that Chanyeol has fire inside of him.





	What Lies Within

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt #:** BAE512  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
>  **Author's Note:** This year I've been too busy with life, and this fanfic hasn't turned out as good as I expected it to be, I hope the prompter isn't disappointed, but I didn't want to drop it so I wrote it till the end. Thanks to my wonderful beta and to the BAE mods and readers, thank you for being patient with me  >< I hope you enjoy this!

_ What a first day _ , was everything that Baekhyun could think.

 

Byun Baekhyun, almost twenty and a half, was the newest addition to the city’s fire brigade. He had been training ever since he left highschool because that was what he yearned to do with his life. He wanted to help people, he wanted to save lives. So, when the phone started ringing in the middle of the night, he was eager more than nervous, and grabbed his inflammable jacket excitedly, running to the fire truck with his flaming red hair shining under the white lights of the garage.

 

The excitement just went up as minutes passed and they were closer and closer to their destination, the sirens deafening him but he didn’t care. He wanted to get there and start saving lives.

 

But he didn’t expect  _ that _ .

 

The small house was literally a ball of fire in the middle of the suburban street when they arrived. Flames surrounded the building, coming out from the windows like red-hot tongues, licking and consuming the house. Baekhyun and his team members could still hear screams coming from inside, so they started blasting water towards the weak spots and the surroundings, making sure nothing else bursted suddenly into flames as they tried to make a gap in the flames to try to rescue the people who were still inside.

 

Baekhyun was working like crazy, unable to block the screaming from his ears. It sounded like a child, and it was unbearable for him. But that was until the explosion came.

 

Something inside the house blew up, making even the firefighters retreat some steps because of the force and heat of the flames. The screaming intensified, whoever it was, they were absolutely terrified; the screams mingled with crying now. That was when Baekhyun thought he had had enough.

 

He threw away the hose to one of his comrades, who screamed something to him but the redhead didn’t listen. He zipped up his jacket, making sure his suit protected every part of him it should and, covering his face, he entered the house through a window.

 

It was hell inside.

 

There was barely anything Baekhyun saw inside the house that wasn’t on fire, but there wasn’t much that Baekhyun could see, actually. The high temperature and the heat made just being inside the house almost unbearable. But as much as his common sense told him to go out, he couldn’t.

 

‘Where are you?!’ he screamed to the still crying child. ‘I’m Baekhyun, I came to help!’ 

 

The crying seemed to stop for a moment, as if the person was making sure they weren’t imagining things. Baekhyun was about to scream again when-

 

‘I’m here!’

 

The voice came from his right, so there he went, advancing through the burning furniture and the melting photographs. When he entered the next room, he saw him: a child no older than twelve or thirteen, kneeling on the floor beside two bodies, a middle aged man and a woman. Baekhyun was no doctor, but it seemed to him like they were dead.

 

‘Come with me,’ he said to the child, extending his arms towards him. The boy looked at the man and woman next to him, doubting. ‘Please! I’ll come back to rescue them too, but I need to get you out first.’

 

The boy nodded and stood up, running to the safety of the firefighter’s arms. He hugged the boy tightly in his embrace and ran for the window from where he had broken into the first time. He managed to climb through it with the boy clinging to him for dear life, and jumped out of the house. Baekhyun almost ran without pause for the fire truck, where he finally let go of the child, sitting him in the copilot seat, and took a closer look at him.

 

‘Are you hurt?’ he asked, cupping the face of the boy gently in his palms and moving his head softly from side to side, checking for cuts, burns or anything, actually.

‘No, I’m fine, sir,’ he boy answered softly.

‘You sure?’ the boy nodded and the redhead sighed in relief.

‘What about my parents, sir?’ the boy asked, tears pooling again at the corners of his eyes.

 

But there was no room for Baekhyun to answer. In that precise moment, a sudden explosion, bigger than the previous one, engulfed the house in fire. Pieces of glass and wood were expelled forcefully from the house, and the firefighters shouted to each other to check whether they were okay while car alarms went off because of the force of the fire blast. The detonation had been insanely violent, making it impossible for anyone to enter, and for anyone inside to survive. The boy seemed to figure this out too, for he looked mournfully at the house and then looked at his intertwined hands, big salty tears falling from his eyes in silence.

 

The ambulance took less than ten minutes to arrive. The fire had started to retreat but it was by no means extinct, so Baekhyun wanted to stay. However, his superior advised him to go with the child. Reinforcements were on their way, and the child had lost his parents, he needed a friendly face to bear with the hospital, his superior had alleged, and Baekhyun was the closest right now to something like that. The redhead looked at the boy, who was being taken inside the ambulance at that very moment. He really wanted to help with that fire, that was why he had become a firefighter in the first place. But something in the eyes of that boy, looking at him before disappearing inside the vehicle, urged him to be beside him and help him. 

 

He didn’t know how, but he felt that that boy needed him.

 

‘Okay,’ he said to his boss, ‘I’ll go with him.’

 

The man smiled at him and patted his head before going back to the fire. Baekhyun turned around and ran while taking off his helmet and gloves, stopping the nurse closing the doors of the ambulance just in time. It really wasn’t anything like the first day he had imagined over and over in his head, but at that moment, the perfect first day didn’t matter to him anymore.

 

‘I’m coming with you,’ he said with a determined tone. ‘I will stay with the kid.’

 

They didn’t seem to care much, and let him inside. The boy’s eyes shone when he saw Baekhyun sitting next to him. He grabbed the firefighter’s jacket in a tight fist, as if making sure he wouldn’t abandon him. The older of the two chuckled and took the small hand in his bigger one.

 

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he assured the boy. ‘My name is Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun. What’s yours?’

‘I’m Park Chanyeol,’ he answered, his voice still a bit shaky but it could have also been caused by the normal hormonal changes in kids of his age. ‘You look young.’

‘I’m twenty years old,’ he smiled at the boy as the ambulance kept on going to the hospital. ‘How old are you?’

‘I will be thirteen soon.’

 

It just broke his heart. A boy this young just lost his parents in a horrible fire, and even if he wasn’t hurt, the loss in itself was a horrible scar to bear for life. 

 

‘Mr. Byun,’ Chanyeol called him, but he shook his head, confusing him.

‘Call me Baekhyun, Chanyeol,’ he replied with a soft smile. ‘I could be your older brother, you don’t have to be so formal.’

‘Okay,’ he agreed. ‘Baekhyun,’ he tried again, and the older nodded, ‘what is going to happen to me now?’

 

That was a very difficult question, a question that Baekhyun didn’t know how to answer. Chanyeol was now alone in the world, he didn’t know whether he had any relatives that could take him in, but in any case, it would be some time before the police could figure this out and assign him to live with someone.

 

‘I don’t know,’ he answered earnestly. ‘Do you have grandparents or uncles you can stay with?’ colour drained from the child’s face and Baekhyun knew the answer even before he parted his lips.

‘I don’t,’ he whispered. ‘Or at least, not that I know,’ he added, trying to sound less disheartened than he surely felt.

 

They arrived at the hospital. The firefighter took the boy’s hand in his tightly and didn’t let go until he could no longer proceed to the examination room, for he was no parent or appropriate adult. The police arrived when Chanyeol was still under examination and he filled them in with the details he knew until the boy emerged from the room, walking by himself.

 

Chanyeol rapidly attached himself to Baekhyun, grabbing the jacket and half hiding behind his body from the policemen. They asked him some questions before leaving, and the redhead accompanied him to his room. He called his boss, but he didn’t pick up, so he decided to stay beside the boy for the time being. A nurse came with a dinner tray for Chanyeol, and he sat there, encouraging the boy to eat as much as he could (‘ _ You need to eat for you to recover’  _ he said), and just stay there when the younger slid down the bed, positioning himself better for sleep.

 

‘Baekhyun, I’m scared,’ he murmured, his fists closing around the sheets, knuckles almost white. ‘What if I don’t have anyone to take care of me? I don’t want to go to an orphanage.’

‘Why?’ the older asked curiously.

‘Because that would mean nobody loves or cares about me.’

‘That’s not true,’ he replied, closing the distance a bit more and caressing the dark and wild strands of Chanyeol’s hair. ‘I care about you.’

‘Do you?’ the boy asked, half hopefully. Baekhyun nodded. ‘If I don’t have anyone else in the world, would you take care of me?’

 

How can someone promise blindly to a child that they would take care of him? There are laws, rules, conditions to be met. But at that precise moment, with the dark, pretty eyes of Chanyeol looking at him with such faith in them, Baekhyun couldn’t explain this to him. So he just smiled and raised his right pinky finger.

 

‘I promise I will take care of you, Chanyeol. Always.’

 

The firefighter thinks that he felt a spark inside him when the boy’s right pinky finger interlaced with his.

 

\---

 

‘Chanyeol, dinner’s ready!’

‘Coming!’

 

He dropped the guitar on top of the bed and ran downstairs to the kitchen, where he found his little guardian with a red apron tied tightly around his waist. He stopped on the last step for a second, taking in the view of his short frame but broad shoulders, the way his head was tilted slightly to the right while he hummed as he added the last touches to their dinner. A shiver ran through his body, a warm tingling he had been experiencing for some years now.

 

Suddenly, as if the firefighter had sensed the gaze on his nape, he peeked over his shoulder and located the tall man on the staircase.

 

‘What are you doing standing there like a fool?’ he huffed, going back to the dish. ‘Go sit down so we can eat.’

 

He smiled but obliged, and took a few steps to finally sit down on his chair. The older male soon put the bowl full of japchae in the middle of the small round table and took a seat next to the tall boy without taking off the apron, before both of them started eating directly from the bowl with their chopsticks. 

 

More than seven years had passed since their first encounter. Chanyeol remembered how scared he was, not only inside the house surrounded by fire and with the unconscious bodies of his parents lying in front of him; but in the hospital with all those machines beeping and the tubes that got connected to him. But he also remembered the warmth he felt when Baekhyun hugged him to get him out of the house, when he visited him at the hospital. He put all his hopes on the young firefighter and now that he was nearing his twentieth birthday, he knew that he had put the red haired man in a tight spot asking him to take care of him. 

 

Nonetheless, the older of the two hadn’t made a hollow promise. He somehow found a way to adopt him, a way that he still didn’t want to share with him, but it really didn’t matter for Chanyeol, not when he could be with him every day. He moved with the firefighter when he was released from the hospital, still a nervous little wreck holding tightly the bag with the few possessions the rest of the firefighters were able to rescue from his house once they put out the fire.

 

At first, he was scared to even move around the house, just in case he broke something or touched something he wasn’t supposed to touch. But Baekhyun took his hand sweetly and told him that now, it was his house too, and that he shouldn’t be afraid. He then smiled and ruffled his hair, inviting him to ice cream. 

 

Chanyeol thought that was the first time his heart beat fast for Baekhyun. 

 

But it certainly wasn’t the last. As he grew up, taller and with a bigger frame than his guardian, so did his admiration for the older one. It wouldn’t be as bad if it were only admiration, though, because he had had to admit on his sixteen birthday that, when Baekhyun looked into his eyes and asked him to make a wish before blowing out the candles, the need of kissing the twenty-four year old wasn’t a desire born from admiration. It was a desire from love. And because of that, he was even more scared to share his darkest and deepest secret, a secret he had been hiding since he could remember. He was afraid of everything he could lose, afraid to lose Baekhyun, if the other knew.

 

‘What were you doing in your room?’ Baekhyun suddenly asked. 

 

Chanyeol looked at him, noticing the strand of black hair that crossed his face, finding it adorable. The older male had dyed it back to black once he took care of him, as a way of saying he was mature enough to raise a child on his own. He had argued that he didn’t mind the colour of his hair, but the firefighter was really stubborn and didn’t listen to him. In exchange, the younger boy had dyed his hair red, although he had changed the colour over the years and now he was sporting a soft shade of pink with some lilac touches. He softly lifted a hand, putting the black lock behind his ear with care.

 

‘I was composing a new song,’ he replied, trying to steady his voice not to show the turmoil in his heart.

‘Will I be able to listen to this one?’ the older raised one eyebrow, a sly smile on his face.

‘Nope,’ the taller answered quickly, popping a piece of green pepper into his mouth. 

‘You know it’s terribly irritating when you tell me you’re composing a new song but refuse to let me hear it?’ the older one sighed, picking out the slices of cucumber. ‘What did I buy you a guitar for?’

‘I play for you, that’s unfair,’ Chanyeol frowned, his chopsticks in his mouth. ‘I just don’t play the ones I create.’

‘Why, though?’

 

It wasn’t the first time Baekhyun asked him about his songs, but as he had done all the other times, he stayed mute and said nothing. The firefighter just let it go as usual, and went to ask about his day in general at university.

 

The main reason why the younger boy didn’t want the other to listen to his songs was because they were mostly about what he felt for the firefighter. It would be embarrassing watching Baekhyun realising what his lyrics really meant, even though he never used the older one’s name explicitly. But come on, to how many people could “handsome redhead who rescued me” refer to?

 

‘When they are perfect, I’ll show you,’ he ended up saying the same empty promise he told him every time, but Baekhyun seemed content with it.

‘You’d better do,’ he warned him with a smile.

 

They finished eating and soon after the dishes were clean and the apron was off the firefighter’s chest, both of them scurried to the sofa to sit on the better place of it. Chanyeol won the improvised race like he almost always did because for him, the real prize was looking at Baekhyun’s cute and pouty face -not that  _ he _ admitted that he was cute at twenty six and a half- and then drag him to the sofa with an embrace, letting the older man sit between his legs and having his back pressed against the young adult’s chest. His whole body tickled at the heat of Baekhyun’s own against his, it was one of the guilty pleasures he allowed himself since he grew taller than his guardian and discovered that the firefighter fitted perfectly in his arms.

 

‘You know, someday you’ll have a sprain and you won’t be able to move freely and I’ll win this seat fair and square,’ Baekhyun mumbled, shifting slightly to get more comfortable.

‘Ah, that’s so nice, wishing me to be in pain,’ the taller one faked a sob and he earned himself a hit on the thigh.

‘Don’t be stupid, I don’t want you to be hurt… But accidents happen,’ he shrugged.

‘Are you now a murderer?’

 

Baekhyun looked at him with a mischievous smile and didn’t answer until Chanyeol feigned to start panicking and he had to stop him by tickling his sides. They both ended up laughing and nagging at each other instead of watching the TV programme they were supposed to be watching.

 

‘I missed  _ Masterchef _ again, it’s your fault,’ the taller boy groaned when they were heading to their bedrooms upstairs.

‘Whose fault is it again?’ laughed the other man, stopping right in front of his own room. ‘I wouldn’t have done a thing if you weren’t so annoying.’

‘It’s your fault,’ the taller repeated with a smile. ‘And I’m going to get a compensation,’ he could see that Baekhyun knew what he was going to ask, because his face suddenly changed to a mortified gesture. ‘I’m using one of my coupons.’

The firefighter groaned. The coupons were a gift he had received for his thirteenth birthday. Since he had barely moved in to live with Baekhyun, the firefighter was quite short on money and couldn’t even afford to buy him a cake. He bought a piece of a chocolate cake he thought Chanyeol would fancy, and created a small stack of coupons for him to use, with an unlimited number of times. Between those were ‘ _ Receive a hug _ ’, ‘ _ Going out to eat ice-cream _ ’, and things like that. But there was one that Chanyeol treasured as his favourite, he had used it way too many times, and the shorter man knew that was the one he was going to use at that moment.

 

‘I shouldn’t have given you those.’

‘But you did,’ the taller crooned, and opened the door to the older man’s room. ‘So I’m using it.’

 

Resigned to his fate, Baekhyun sighed and led the way inside. The coupon that Chanyeol liked the most was a simple one, one that the older man didn’t actually think he would use when he was crafting them. ‘ _ Sleep with hyung’ _ was the simple message on that worn out piece of paper that the taller boy still treasured in the first drawer of his desk, he hadn’t had the need to take it out to use it for some years but it wasn’t necessary when the older man knew exactly what was written there.

 

When he was a teenager of barely thirteen, it was easy to sneak into Baekhyun’s small bed even if they were two of them trying to fit in there. But as Chanyeol grew taller, taller and well-built, it was a bit suffocating and the firefighter ended up buying a new, queen-sized bed alongside their new house as soon as the teenager found a part-time job and they saved up enough money to move to their current house.

 

Even with all the space they had, Baekhyun liked sleeping on the right side of the bed, and the younger one just snuggled next to him, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him closer, maybe even a bit too close for what was appropriate because he saw the serious look adorning the older’s face. But he also thinks he saw a slight blush on his cheeks and felt his heart beating fast inside his chest, so he smiled and made himself comfortable without letting go.

 

‘I should have at least put a limit to the number of uses,’ the firefighter mumbled to himself when the lights were out, sighing and also embracing Chanyeol by his waist. ‘Like once per month or something like that.’

‘Why that all of sudden?’ the younger man chuckled.

‘Because you’ll want to sleep with me again tomorrow, on your birthday.’

‘Don’t you have the night shift tomorrow?’ he pink-haired boy asked.

‘I had it, but Junmyeon needs the sunday off at night, so we traded,’ the firefighter explained. ‘Also…,’ it seemed like he wanted to add something, but he let his voice die and the taller one grew impatient.

‘Also…?’ he encouraged the older male.

‘Also,’ Baekhyun’s voice was really soft and even in a dark room, with silence around them, Chanyeol had to put all his attention to that low whisper, ‘so that I could be with you on your birthday.’

 

The smile that grew on the taller boy’s face was as big as it had ever been. He had to resist the urge to kiss his guardian, and contented himself with Baekhyun’s warmth against his chest and smelling his manly, spicy, sweet and addictive scent. Yes, that was enough in that moment.

 

‘You chose to be here on the night of my birthday knowing that I will ask to sleep with you?’ the pink-haired boy asked, just to make sure, and maybe a bit because he wanted to listen to it again.

 

There was a pause and he could sense the firefighter’s hands turning into fists and tugging at his shirt, a gesture that was typical of him when he was embarrassed or feeling shy.

 

‘Yes,’ was the simple answer. 

 

But the taller boy didn’t care it was short or simple. He smiled and brushed his lips against the black haired man’s forehead, as the ghost of a kiss.

 

‘You have weekends off at the music shop, right?’ the black-haired man added, his voice suddenly worried.

‘I do,’ the younger man reassured him, still smiling.‘Good night, Baekhyun.’

‘Good night, Chanyeol.’

 

No, he thought as he closed his eyes, he wasn’t going to lose Baekhyun at any costs.

 

\-----

 

Baekhyun woke up with the warmth and arms of Chanyeol surrounding him, his smell all over his senses and he grunted lowly.

 

He hated sleeping with the young adult because he moved a lot during the night and more often than not, he awoke with the boy on top of him, hugging him like he was some sort of doll. And it was cute when Chanyeol was young, he had to admit it, but now, it was a real problem. Because the pink-haired man grew to be bigger and taller and him, and because he wanted to do things to his protegé that he certainly shouldn’t.

 

But no one had warned him that the scared little boy he had rescued from the fire would grow into a tall, handsome man with a baby face and the power to make his willpower go away with just one smile or one pout of his full lips. He thinks it was around the younger boy’s sixteenth or seventeenth birthday when he noticed that he was looking at his protegé in a way that no guardian should be. The persistence of him to use his vouchers, that gift he earnestly thought the boy wouldn’t like, how insistent Chanyeol became to spend time together, sleeping together and going out together; all of that didn’t help him not even in the slightest with his infatuation.

 

Because at first, he did think it was just infatuation. The type of job he had chosen to do, one he dearly loved, absorbed much of his time, the other mostly taken up by his protegé, so it left him with little time for dates or a love life in general. So when he started to feel  _ things _ for Chanyeol, he couldn’t help but believe it was just infatuation because of his lack of contact with people outside home and work.

 

But Baekhyun discovered that he was wrong.

 

It wasn’t infatuation, as much as he wanted it to be. Because it would be easier for him if it was only that, it would be less complicated for him to shrug off the feelings and turn his attention to Lee, a new recruit at the fire station that had just been transferred and who seemed interested in him. But every time the tall and sexy firefighter flirted with him, all Baekhyun could think that was Chanyeol was taller, charmer, funnier. For him, his protegé was better in every aspect -including those killing abs he had developed and that tortured him every hot day. He was both deep in love and trouble, because he was legally responsible for the pink-haired boy, even though admittedly, he was an adult already. 

 

But he had been his tutor and guardian for six years until he turned nineteen, and not even a year had passed since that. It was difficult to adjust, but if he had to be honest, it wasn’t that bad if he could close his eyes and tighten his grip on the taller man’s waist, sensing his smell and smiling because of it.

 

Damn, he certainly shouldn’t be doing this, allowing himself to be weak even for a few seconds. Because, even if he forgot that he was the adult in charge of Chanyeol for as long as the boy needed shelter, there was a difference of almost seven years between them. Yes, the younger man was already an adult and there was nothing illegal in that, but he still felt that he was too old in comparison and that young people tended to see those seven years as a huge gap, deeming him too old for even taking into consideration.

 

He felt the pink-haired boy shifting slightly, still asleep, and he looked up to observe his sleeping face while the grip around his body tightened. The young adult really treated him as some sort of doll when they were sleeping together. He couldn’t avoid the soft smile that appeared on his face and caressed the boy’s back lightly, his finders lingering there, enjoying the few moments he had left before the alarm went off. 

 

And surely it did, and a grunt could be heard, one that made Baekhyun smile even wider. His hands stopped caressing the back of the other one and he put on the mask he usually wore, the mask that covered his feelings for Chanyeol.

 

‘Good morning, Chanyeol,’ he said animatedly, pinching his side and making the taller growl in pain. ‘Already feeling old?’

‘Hyung, please,’ begged him, opening his eyes and fixing his gaze on Baekhyun’s. A shiver run down the firefighter’s spine, it had been a long time since the younger boy called him ‘hyung’, and certainly never before did he with that deep, husky voice and those dark and glowing eyes directly looking into his.

 

The older man let go and sit up, decided to get out of bed, but strong and determined arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him back, making him crash into the other male’s chest, much like the previous night, when they intended to watch TV.

 

‘You still haven’t said the magic words,’ the boy breathed in his ear, making him sigh softly, excitement tingling all over his body. Slowly, the older one turned his head until he made eye contact with his captor.

‘Happy birthday, Chanyeol,’ he wished him, almost whispering. The smile was instant on the younger’s  face, and, to Baekhyun’s heart’s panic, leaned in even closer to respond.

‘Thank you, hyung.’

 

Maybe it was the air around them, as intense as the birthday boy’s stare, their intimate position or the fact that he was still not completely awake, but he lifted his head and kissed Chanyeol’s cheek, a bit too close to the lips he desperately wanted to kiss. It was surprising how he dared to do that, and even the taller male froze in astonishment, moment that the firefighter used to slip away of his embrace and get into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

 

His heart was beating fast inside his chest, and he brought a hand to his mouth, still not believing what he had just done. Because, given he was a bit more asleep when his protegé whispered  _ hyung _ to him, he would have kissed him full on his lips.

 

He washed his face with cold water, trying hard not to drown himself on it, and then proceeded with his usual routine like nothing had happened. He dressed, went downstairs and found Chanyeol there finishing breakfast. It smelled like fire and smoke and he panicked slightly, but then he discovered the toasts on the table being very toasted.

 

‘You forgot again to check the toasts?’ he sighed, sitting in his usual chair.

‘I was taking care of the milk, I hate it when it boils and gets all over the kitchen,’ the taller boy scowled while imitating him. ‘They are less burnt than usual, mind you.’

Baekhyun laughed but agreed and they both started to eat their breakfast. They ate and chatted, and then the older one had to almost run out of the house, because he had been too mesmerized with the pink-haired one’s passionate speech about his plans for the day and how he expected his friends to have bought him a new pair of drumsticks that he had been yearning for months. He couldn’t avoid it, his face was so bright, the image of pure enthusiasm, and the shorter man could have listened to his deep voice for hours, but he had a job he needed to attend to.

 

‘Remember to be here before dinner!’ the older one shouted, smiling when a husky ‘ _ Yes!’ _ echoed in his ears.

 

Working at the fire station that day was just like any other average day, stressful and rough average day. Some small fires, a dog that ended on top of a roof and a gas leak that nearly became something worse, but they were able to sort it out without having to lament bigger and worse damages. It was exhausting, nevertheless, so when he reached home later that afternoon, the only thing Baekhyun was looking forward to was to take a shower. Chanyeol wasn’t there, but since it was his birthday and he had mentioned that he was meeting his friends before going home to have their traditional celebration together, the firefighter didn’t worry in the least.

 

He took a warm shower, letting his muscles relax after a tough day and allowing the water to run along his body, making him sigh in content. There, under the gentle stream of water, he started thinking about that morning, but when his imagination stopped remembering and started  _ imagining _ what could have happened, he forced himself out of it and closed the tap before exiting the shower. He shouldn’t allow himself to think about those kind of things, not in that moment. Not now.

 

Lately, Chanyeol had been very secretive. He had always had that secretive side of himself; Baekhyun used to think it was because of the raw and horrific experience of the fire in his house and the impact of seeing his parents die before his own eyes. But as he grew older, that part of him seemed to grow even bigger. It wasn’t like he was silent or tried not to make more contact with his guardian as it was necessary; more on the contrary, the taller boy was always more than eager to be with him and share his stories with him. But he couldn’t help but think that there was something that the taller kept to himself and that we wasn’t telling him.

 

One day, he caught him getting out of his room, with damp hair as if he had just taken a shower and smelling strongly of perfume. It wouldn’t be half as weird if he hadn’t taken a shower just that morning and also, due to the fact that he had used a lot of perfume just to stay at home, since he didn’t hang out with his friends that day, he stayed at home with Baekhyun and even slept next to him.

 

That was the most remarkable day, but it wasn’t the only weird thing. Here and there, those little signs were there for him to collect and put together the puzzle, and he thought he had the answer, an answer that made him sick in his stomach, it made him angry and sad. Because all the pieces led to the thought that Chanyeol had a lover, and something inside him burnt in jealousy every time he thought of anyone -woman or man- touching his protegé.  _ He  _ should be the only one to have that kind of permission, and not even him could touch him as he wanted.

 

He shook his head in order to shake off the torturing thought. He put on some comfortable clothing and started to prepare dinner, since the younger man would probably show up in some minutes. He hummed while chopping down the vegetables, smiling while thinking how he learnt to cook thanks to having to take care of a picky teenager, and how he taught him to eat properly. Even so the taller one would always laugh at how his guardian wasn’t able to eat cucumber, while the firefighter grunted. Baekhyun chuckled and kept on cooking.

 

It was a quarter to nine when the older man started to frown at the sight of the time on the screen of his phone. Chanyeol normally wasn’t late, even more so on his birthday. It was very rare of him to come back late and not send him a message, assuring his guardian that he’d be home shortly. When half past nine came and went, Baekhyun got a hoodie, took his keys and, with his phone secure in the inside pocket of a thick jacket, went out to search for his protegé.

 

Normally, the pink-haired boy and his friends would hang out on a park near a coffee shop and a small shopping centre, so he directed his steps towards there. He tried to walk calmly, but his speed was increasing each passing minute, and he was almost running when he  _ smelled _ it. The black-haired man stopped dead in his tracks and looked around, trying to find out where was the smell was coming from.  _ “It’s just a simple barbecue” _ was the thought at the back of his head, but this alarming feeling that it was something worse wouldn’t leave his body, so he preferred making sure it was nothing. An orange, warm light could be seen vaguely from behind the unkempt garden of the abandoned house some five blocks away from their own, so Baekhyun started to speed up, his steps lengthier and faster. He even thought he was hearing a fire truck siren approaching, and that made his stomach churn and turn in anguish.

 

There was fire. It wasn’t a big one, but what was most likely used to be a tool shed in the backyard of that house was being consumed by the flames, and next to it was an unconscious figure with soft pink hair.

 

‘Chanyeol!’ Baekhyun screamed while running to him, but the boy seemed to wake up and sat up, shaking his head a bit and ruffling his hair.

‘What…?’ he started to say, but his guardian was there in a second, making him jump in surprise and look at him, completely baffled. ‘Baekhyun?’

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked, his worries dripping in his voice, which was at the verge of screaming. ‘How did the fire start?’

 

The younger man opened his mouth, but the sound of the siren got a lot closer, and the firefighter didn’t want to face his colleagues in an abandoned house with his protegé while the shed of the backyard was on fire. He tugged at Chanyeol’s arm and motioned him to get up.

 

‘Can you walk?’ he asked, to which the other just nodded.

 

Somehow, they managed to run away from the place before anyone or the firefighters could see them. They walked quickly, and soon enough they had arrived home, where Baekhyun closed all doors, windows and blinds while the taller boy sat on the sofa, caressing his arm and looking guilty with his bottom lip disappearing behind his teeth.

 

When he was finished, the older of the two went to stand right in front of him. It was almost funny, because when Chanyeol was younger and misbehaved, he would sit the child on the sofa and stand in front of him like he was doing right now. It was mostly because that way, at least he would have an advantaged position towards the other, but also because that meant that whatever the younger boy had done, it was severe enough to receive a big scolding.

 

‘What were you doing there?’ the question was simple enough, yet the boy just lowered his head even more and didn’t answer. ‘Chanyeol, answer me.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered, but he didn’t respond and that infuriated Baekhyun.

‘What are you sorry for? Worrying me? Setting that shed on fire?’ the questions didn’t stop pouring out of his mouth, but the pink-haired boy still refused to answer. ‘Fucking talk to me, Park Chanyeol!’

‘I’m sorry!’ the taller man jumped off the sofa, standing in front of him in all his height, but it didn’t intimidate his guardian. ‘I didn’t mean to-’

‘No, you never mean anything!’ Baekhyun cut him mid-phrase. ‘Yet you still  _ do _ things!’

‘What the hell is that even supposed to mean?’ he yelled back.

 

But Baekhyun wasn’t listening to him. He could only think that he had been in danger, he could have lost Chanyeol in that fire, and he was so angry and so desperate that he wasn’t able to control himself anymore.

 

He closed his fists around the collar of the boy’s sweater and pulled him down, kissing him and finally letting his emotions take control of him.

 

\----

 

His birthday had started quite good, actually.

 

He woke up with Baekhyun very close to him, breathing in the same air and looking into those dark obs that always made a shiver of excitement run down his spine. He had even received a happy birthday kiss which startled him a lot, but also made him jump and roll around the bed because of how happy he felt. 

 

The bad part about that morning were the burnt toasts, but the older man didn’t seem to mind that -even though, as he had pointed out, they were less burnt than usual-, and went out to work, leaving him to clean the kitchen and the house. He sighed when Baekhyun went out, lying back on the chair. He rose his right hand in front of him and murmured.

 

‘They were less burnt.’

 

Then he created a small flame with his open hand and extinguished it by closing it with a smile and jumped off the chair. He started cleaning while singing, happy that he had been able to control his fire.

 

That was the secret he kept from his guardian. Since he was born, he had been cursed with this gift, this special power that made him able to create fire. His parents were aware of this, and tried their best to help him control this power, because the dangerous part was the sudden outburst of uncontrolled flames that emerged from his body. As he grew older, the explosions were fewer and fewer, but they grew in power. 

 

The day of the fire when Baekhyun rescued him, he had been feeling weird all day. He told his parents so, and they suggested they could go to the countryside on the following day so he could let his fire out, as they had found that it was the best way to keep his power under control, going out to allow him get rid of all that power. But they never had that chance.

 

That night, feeling uneasy while in bed, Chanyeol went downstairs to talk to his parents. His parents had consoled him, hugged him and kissed him on his forehead, and his mother was on her way to go make him a warm glass of milk when he felt it. It was worse than any other time before, and he had looked at them with fear in his pupils, knowing what has about to happen.

 

He exploded.

 

The flames engulfed his parents and his house while he cried, hugging himself while his parents lied on the floor. He didn’t know how much time it had passed when the young firefighter rescued him, but he felt an instant connection with him. His parents weren’t going to be there for him anymore, but that young man, with honest eyes and flaming red hair, could be. The colour of his hair was like a signal to him, something inside his body wanted to get attached to that man and never let go.

 

And surprisingly, Baekhyun did become his guardian. He took care of him, he accepted the responsibility of taking a teenager under his wing and raising him. He became first an older brother to him, and someone much, much important afterwards. And because of that, he didn’t want the same thing to happen again. He hid his power from Baekhyun, unsure of how he would react, and started training his power by himself, using first a hidden part of the park, and later on, the abandoned house. 

 

But it had been really hard lately, because he had bumped into Baekhyun at odd times, the worst one when he had accidentally burnt one plastic bottle of water he usually carried and the acid smell of burnt plastic got attached to himself and his clothes. When he arrived home, luckily before the firefighter did, he took a shower and afterwards, to ensure the smell was covered completely, he used perfume to not let anything to chance. He thinks the older man found it weird, but he didn’t comment on it and let it pass without a word.

 

The day of his birthday, he did meet with his friends. They went to the coffee shop and they gave him his new drumsticks as promised, then they went bowling and, around seven, he went back home. But as he was lying the drumsticks on his desk, he thought he could go practise a bit. He hadn’t practised for almost a week and he felt the fire tingling on his fingertips. Burning some toasts for breakfast wasn’t the type of fire release he needed, so he decided to go out and let it out before he exploded. Except he did explode, a little bit.

 

He had arrived to the backyard of the abandoned house, well hidden from prying eyes, and prepared himself to let out a medium outburst, so he could release some pressure in order to create bigger flames under control. That first medium outburst turned bigger than expected, setting the shed on fire and knocking him out for at least an hour, for what he found out later. He certainly didn’t expect Baekhyun to be there when he woke up, and he certainly didn’t expect how angry the older was. He knew the firefighter knew how dangerous fire was first hand because of his job, and that was another reason why he hadn’t told him about his condition -he feared his handsome guardian would see a monster in him.

 

‘No, you never mean anything!’ Baekhyun had yelled at him, apparently out of himself and confusing Chanyeol. ‘Yet you still  _ do _ things!’

‘What the hell is that even supposed to mean?’ he had yelled back.

 

And then, the most extraordinary thing happened. The pink-haired boy wasn’t sure of how or why it had happened, but the shorter man had pulled him closer and kissed him passionately, pouring in that kiss all his anger and anguish. And the younger one felt it, felt his worries that he might have been hurt, his fear of losing him, and how much he cared for him; so all that was left for him to do was wrap his arms around his guardian’s waist and pull him closer as he kissed him back.

 

Something that had started messily, out of anger and worry, turned into something slower and more tender, the tight grips relaxing until they were just hands caressing the other’s body as they finally broke apart. The air was thick around them, they breathed heavily and Baekhyun licked his lips while his protegé followed its movement.

 

‘See? You do things,’ the older one whispered, looking into the other’s eyes. ‘You made me fall for you, you made me kiss you.’

‘I didn’t do anything,’ the replied softly, smiling timidly while his heart beat fast inside his chest, ‘but I can’t say it wasn’t something I wanted, too.’

‘You do?’ the shorter man looked bewildered, and that made him frown in confusion.

‘Why would I lie?’

‘I thought you were already dating someone,’ the firefighter explained, ‘since you put so much effort in erasing all smells when you came from outside.’

 

Oh, well, it wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but he certainly didn’t want Baekhyun to think he was some kind of casanova who lied to play with people’s hearts, and  _ his _ less than anyone else’s. Chanyeol sighed and detached himself from him, but interlaced his fingers with his guardian’s and led the two of them to sit on the sofa. It terrified him, but if the black-haired man really liked him, maybe he would understand. 

 

‘I don’t have a girlfriend, nor a boyfriend, I’m not seeing anyone at the moment,’ he started, his hands trembling slightly. ‘There’s a reason why I did all those strange things, but… I’m afraid to tell you.’

 

He could see panic in the older’s face, but not because he was worried about the nature of what he did, he was worrying about Chanyeol and his well-being, and that was what possibly made him make his decision. He let go of the other’s hands and prayed that everything would be okay. He clasped both of his hands together and when he opened them, a small flame was dancing there. He then passed it to only one hand and let it move around his hand before extinguishing the flame inside his fist. He looked at Baekhyun, whose face sported a blank expression with his eyes slightly more open than usual.

 

‘I have had this power since I can remember, my parents tried to help me control it,’ he paused for a second, controlling his emotions and the pain in his throat. ‘The fire in my house, I started it. It was an accident,’ he added, ‘but it was me. And I didn’t want the same thing to happen to you, so I started practising by myself, letting out the extra pressure and trying to control it so I could keep you safe from me. Today was my first day practising after a whole week, and that’s a bit too much time to keep all of this inside me, so I accidentally set that shed on fire and fell unconscious, but I never wanted to put anyone in danger,’ he finished, biting his bottom lip. ‘Please, say something,’ he whispered, mortified.

 

Baekhyun looked at him, blinking as if processing all that information, before raising a hand to cup his left cheek, then the other. He pulled the other closer to him and then whispered.

 

‘Why didn’t you tell me before?’

‘I- I thought you’d see me as a monster, and I wouldn’t be able to stand losing you, too,’ he answered honestly.

‘You’ll never be a monster to me, Chanyeol,’ the shorter man said, his thumbs caressing the skin under them. ‘I want to help you.’

 

Chanyeol believes that he sobbed then, but he wasn’t sure as Baekhyun’s lips locked again with his and everything else just disappeared for him.

 

This time, there were no raw feelings, just love and care in each sweet brush of lips, in each graze of their tongues together. Their lips locked together as if they had every minute of their lives to spend on that kiss, lips meeting lips and taking their time to map them in their heads, to memorise their flavour.

 

The firefighter’s hands were the first to roam the other's body, too eager to discover what had been kept from them for so long. Toned muscles, soft and sensitive skin, the older man’s slender and pretty fingers left no inch of his torso untouched, even discarding the sweater and shirt of the younger one somewhere, because he seemed to never have enough of it.

 

The rest of his clothes disappeared in the same way, as Baekhyun’s mouth finally left the now swollen and red lips to trace his collarbones, his chest, his hips, and it was rousing him faster than he had ever imagined. Chanyeol was mostly naked in front of him, half hard, and even though he felt exposed, he also felt secure because of his guardian’s reassuring gaze upon him. He had stopped to admire his now grown-up protegé, but he wanted something more than just being stared at.

 

‘Don’t stop now,’ was the plea that left his lips. But the smile that the older man gave him was the signal that he had done it right.

 

It was his first time doing something like that, and he admitted it with red cheeks to the black-haired man, but he just kissed him and responded that he was going to be extra careful with him.

 

And so he was. He prepped him thoroughly, distracting him from the pain with kisses on his lips, face, hipbones; and caresses, with sweet words whispered in his ear as the younger one took, slowly but surely, his guardian’s fingers inside of him, one by one until three of them where pistoning in and out of him, and he was reduced to a needy puddle of moans, his back arched so high he wasn’t even touching the sofa anymore.

 

‘Hyung, please,’ he nearly cried, his eyes shining with unshed tears, but he could see the spark that glowed on the other’s eyes.

 

He obliged, kissing him first and getting rid of his clothes afterwards. He positioned himself between the opened legs of his protegé and leaned in to kiss him as he directed his hard member to his entrance, getting inside him inch by inch. God, Baekhyun felt amazing inside him and the boy moaned when the firefighter’s manhood got inside until the hilt, letting out all the air he wasn’t aware he had been holding. The older man gave him some time to adjust, and then started a soft and sweet motion, pushing in and out of him in tender circles that had the younger man over the moon. It wasn’t sex, it was love-making and Chanyeol was loving every second of it.

 

But both of them needed more, much more, and when the younger said so, the black-haired one pinned one knee on the sofa and dived in hard. He pounded the taller boy without mercy, not minding how loud they were being because everything was about them, their pleasure and becoming one. The pink-haired boy’s hard cock was bouncing with each powerful thrust, his walls were pressuring around the hard member that was taking him to heaven, and a strange yet well-known feeling appeared on his lower stomach.

 

He grabbed his guardian by his neck and pulled him in to kiss him again, something that Baekhyun took advantage of and started to masturbate him. Moans escaped both of their mouths, but it wasn’t until he was seconds away from orgasm that Chanyeol crossed his legs around Baekhyun’s waist, silently asking the shorter man to come inside him. 

 

The feeling of being filled to the brim was something he had never experienced before, but with the black-haired man painting his walls white while moaning his name, the boy couldn’t hold it in any longer.

 

He came in ropes of white between their naked and sweaty bodies, whispering Baekhyun’s name and unconsciously letting some flames out due to the ecstasy. Their breaths were messy as well as their damp hair due to the sweat, but none of them had ever felt as happy and as complete as they did in that moment. The older of the two pulled out, letting his come slide out his protegé’s entrance, but instead of going away to get something to clean them both, he leaned in and laid himself down on top of the younger male.

 

‘You’re going to get dirty,’ he warned the shorter, but he only smiled and caressed his hair.

‘I don’t mind,’ he confessed. ‘I didn’t know you were going to be on fire literally,’ he added with a smirk.

‘I didn’t know either,’ he excused himself, although he felt his cheeks and ears heating up and turning a bright shade of red.

‘I liked it,’ chuckled the firefighter, still caressing him. ‘I love you, Chanyeol, I really do.’

 

And Chanyeol knew he was telling the truth, because their hearts were beating in unison when he told him he also loved him before kissing him again.

 

\-----

 

‘Ah!’

 

Baekhyun moaned, tugging at dark locks of hair while his chest went up and down. His legs felt like jelly and he knew that, if they hadn’t been held open, he would have been closing them. But he couldn’t move as Chanyeol sucked on his cock, making him climax after a hard suck and a loud moan.

 

The younger man released his shaft with a lewd smile on his face and wiped the small drops of come that had dripped out of his mouth with his fingers, licking them before getting to the firefighter’s lips and kissing him intensely, too intensely for the older male’s very sensitive and post-orgasm body.

 

‘Good morning, Baekhyun,’ he greeted him with a smile. ‘Happy birthday.’

‘You could have said that thirty minutes ago,’ he breathed, looking into the taller male’s eyes. ‘Thank you.’

‘But it wouldn’t have been half as fun,’ the other pouted, lying on the other man’s chest and caressing his hair. ‘I like you went back to red.’

 

Baekhyun smiled. After Chanyeol confessed about his powers, he felt like going back to dying his hair red, as a silent way of supporting him. It had hurt him that his protegé had kept such a secret from him, but he could also understand why he did so. And because of that, he decided that he would rather be the supportive kind of boyfriend rather than the resentful one.

 

Chanyeol and himself had started dating officially the next day, even though the younger one claimed that it was still his birthday when they confessed to each other, and normally, the shorter man had to pull him in for a kiss to shut him up. Not that the taller complained too much about that, though.

 

‘’It’s your day off,’ the dark-haired male’s voice made him go back to reality, ‘are you sure you want to spend it like that?’

‘Of course I want to,’ the answered decisively. ‘That doesn’t mean we can’t do other things, but this is important.’

 

That was the right answer. The other’s face lit up and he smiled widely, kissing him again with hunger, his big hands roaming the small but sturdy frame of the firefighter. When they both moaned as their cocks rubbed against each other, the older and supposedly more responsible of the two had to push apart, licking his lips.

 

‘You’re not trying to have sex right now, are you?’ he asked, but taking into account the blush on his boyfriend’s face, he was indeed doing so.

 

He left a small kiss on his cheek and jumped out of bed before the younger male could protest, and told him to get into his own bathroom to take a shower. He could hear the taller man grunt as he obliged, and he chuckled as he turn on the shower.

 

It wasn’t that bad, he thought, they were only going to a training field so Chanyeol could practise his powers. He had had a small room made for him to train at home, with some fire extinguishers close by in case something went wrong. But that small room couldn’t give the younger all the space he needed for a powerful outburst that could free him of the pent-up pressure, so once every two or three weeks, they went outdoors so he could do that. They changed the location every now and then, so the fire won’t attract curious people, and last time, the firefighter had thought of the new location.

 

It was like telling the secret had also freed Chanyeol by itself. He claimed he was able to control fire more efficiently that he could before, he wasn’t burning toasts for breakfast anymore, and, in general, he seemed happier than before.

 

Once they were ready, the older man drove them to the training field he used to go when he was training to become a firefighter. Since it was away from the city even at the time, people preferred to go to the training centre next to the shopping mall, and normally, the practise field was empty, like it was that day. He took the small fire extinguisher he had on the car just as a safety measure, and tangled his fingers with the taller male’s before guiding him to the correct place.

 

‘Woah,’ said Chanyeol, impressed.

 

Even though the field was a bit unkempt and the equipment was old, it still looked good and impressive, like the first time the shorter man himself stepped there as a clumsy eighteen-year-old. The firefighter sat on an old tire on the floor which was part of the jumping and running course, and waited expectantly as the other placed himself on the middle of the field.

 

Baekhyun loved watching Chanyeol create fire. It was beautiful, the soft light that danced from the flames and casted pretty shadows on his face while making his now dark hair glow orange under it. The younger created balls of fire, whips of fire, even rings of it, but the older male’s favourites were the figures.

 

The taller had gotten much better at controlling the fire, and he was able to create figures that would last by themselves for some minutes before vanishing completely. The dark-haired man needed to concentrate a lot to produce those, but he knew his boyfriend loved them, so he did it gladly.

 

‘You’ve gotten so good at this,’ Baekhyun praised him when the taller man finally sat down on a tire next to him, and passed him a bottle of water.

‘You think so?’ he took a sip of water while the older one nodded. ‘I’m still afraid something will go wrong someday.’

‘Well, now you live with a firefighter, to it should be okay,’ the shorter laughed, hugging him. ‘And I think you look less stressed now than you were six months ago. That also helps.’

‘Yeah,’ Chanyeol agreed, smiling and pulling him to his lap to wrap his arms around his waist. ‘Sex is a really good stress-reliever,’ the older rolled his eyes but smiled, kissing him.

‘You pervert,’ the wrinkled his nose, smiling at him.

 

But the taller male took him by the nape and kissed him again, soft and tender, caressing the exposed skin of the older man’s neck while his lips met each other again, always as if it was the first and last time.

 

Because even if Chanyeol had a power that nobody could explain, Baekhyun loved him more than anything else in the world.

 

And for him, that was all that mattered.

 

\--END--


End file.
